Sophia J. Kennedy
Bringing individuals with autism back into focus
It seems like autism is on our minds now more than ever before. We keep hearing about how autism rates appear to be increasing (and this does seem to be true). People are fearmongered about potential causes of autism as vaccines and environmental toxins are blamed, yet there are no proven direct causes for all cases of autism. This creates an environment that feels like a battle zone of misinformation. We don’t know much, but we know that autism is the enemy. And unfortunately, this framing is deeply harmful to individuals with autism and their families.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a multifaceted neurodevelopmental disorder, meaning that it can present in many ways, which is why we characterize it on a spectrum. ASD typically features atypical social interaction and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. But why are we seeing such prevalence in autism today? To address this question, we need to understand how autism was first identified and described.
The first publication detailing the phenotype, or outward appearance, of this disorder was by Leo Kanner in 1943. Kanner noted that the autistic child had a desire for aloneness, unusual speech patterns such as echolalia (echoing of sounds and words), a literal interpretation of speech, and repetitive behaviours. Individuals with ASD can also have sensory sensitivities and atypical motor (i.e. movement) behaviors. ASD often comes with comorbidities (additional, concurrent disorders) such as intellectual disability, social anxiety disorder, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). All of these varying presentations can make it difficult to formulate an exact definition of ASD.
And yet, in our society today, we have an ingrained idea of what autism looks like: we picture an intelligent, young male who has extreme social awkwardness and peculiar tastes. The media echoes this idea with characters such as Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory and Shaun Murphy from The Good Doctor. This type of ASD presentation was previously labelled as Asperger’s syndrome, a term that is no longer used due to the discovered Nazi involvement of psychiatrist Hans Asperger, the first individual to describe this phenotype.
One of the reasons for this stereotype of male autism in the media is that ASD was historically diagnosed in male children at a rate of 4 to every 1 female child. There were much stricter rules regarding the symptoms required to diagnose ASD in the earlier versions of The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Determining a diagnosis of autism was based on much more rigid guidelines and did not take a spectrum approach. Now with the more inclusive varieties of presentations in the modern DSM-5th edition, more girls and women are being diagnosed, contributing to the appearance of increased rates of autism.
Finding the reason behind ASD’s dramatic rise has become a national priority, gaining attention from both scientists and politicians alike. The way our elected officials frame the conversation around autism impacts how the public relates to it. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., positioned autism as a “preventable disease,” which was both inaccurate and confusing. Developmental disorders occur throughout development and are not “diseases.” The administration later announced a misleading finding that correlated (showed a relationship between) autism and taking the over-the-counter drug Tylenol during pregnancy, falsely claiming that Tylenol was causing ASD. Not only was this a poor interpretation of the science (correlation does not mean causation) to release in a public-wide memo, it also incorrectly placed blame on mothers.
It is crucial to remember that there are people behind the autism diagnosis, people who have their strengths and weaknesses, just like everybody else. Neurodivergence does not have to be demonized by society. Government officials need to report the science in a clear way that doesn’t confuse millions. Finally, when individuals accept their autism diagnosis and don’t feel like they need to hide or diminish their traits, they experience better mental health. If we can be an ally to individuals with ASD, we can help improve the well-being for these stigmatized populations.
Editors: Hazel Milla & Karen Wang
Illustrator: Lauren Griffith